(…) the most common emotion aroused by using Facebook is envy. Endlessly comparing themselves with peers who have doctored their photographs, amplified their achievements and plagiarised their bons mots can leave Facebook’s users more than a little green-eyed. Real-life encounters, by contrast, are more WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get).
Estas son las conclusiones de un estudio que comentan en The Economist (vía Jose Alcántara) y cuya conclusión es que «cuanto más usas Facebook, menos feliz te sientes con tu vida».
Hace poco leí Influence, de Robert B. Cialdini. En este libro el autor comenta 6 mecanismos de persuasión basados en reacciones automáticas de las personas que funcionan porque evolutivamente han sido útiles pero que, por supuesto, también pueden ser manipulados por influenciadores profesionales. En el capítulo introductorio, para ilustrar la naturaleza de los mecanismos, trae como ejemplo el principio de contraste. El principio de contraste se refiere a que la percepción depende fuertemente del contexto.
In fact, studies done on the contrast principle at Arizona State and Montana State universities suggest that we may be less satisfied with the physical attractiveness of our own lovers because of the way the popular media bombard us with examples of unrealistically attractive models. In one study college students rated a picture of an average-looking member of the opposite sex as less attractive if they had first looked through the ads in some popular magazines. In another study, male college-dormitory residents rated the photo of a potential blind date. Those who did so while watching an episode of the Charlie’s Angels TV series viewed the blind date as a less attractive woman than those who rated her while watching a different show. Apparently it was the uncommon beauty of the Angels female stars that made the blind date seem less attractive.
De forma que se sabe al menos desde Los Ángeles de Charlie –aunque probablemente desde mucho antes– que exponerse a contextos permanentemente felices en la superficie, en el fondo nos hace menos felices. Y es lo que está pasando también en Facebook.